Hanging By a Moment
by redrider6612
Summary: Songfic to the song Hanging By a Moment by Lifehouse. Booth has had enough of the tension between him and Bones since the mistletoe kiss and he forces a confrontation. Rated T for some major fluff!


**A/N: Songfic to this amazing song, "Hanging By a Moment" by Lifehouse—I recommend that you listen to it. It fits B&B perfectly.**

**Hanging By a Moment**

**By Lifehouse**

Booth fidgeted while he waited for her to answer the door. He knew she was home because he'd called first. He tapped the file against his leg, painfully aware what a lame excuse it was for coming by, but he'd been desperate. He needed to clear this up between them before he went crazy.

_**I'm desperate for changing**_

_**Starving for truth**_

_**I'm closer to where I started**_

_**When chasing after you**_

It all went back to that damn mistletoe kiss. Things had been fine before that—they had worked cases together with easy camaraderie, each of them secure in the platonic status of their relationship. But since then things had been…awkward…their time together marred by uncomfortable silences and eyes avoiding eyes, words left unsaid lying there between them, causing a heaviness in his chest that was growing with each day that passed. It had to stop. Something had to change.

_**I'm fallin' even more in love with you**_

_**Letting go of all I've held onto**_

_**I'm standing here until you make me move**_

_**I'm hanging by a moment here with you**_

Finally the door opened and she stood there smiling, a little breathless. "Sorry, I was in the bathroom," she said with a little nervous laugh. "Come in."

Stopping just inside the door, he waited while she closed it, then turned to look into her eyes, really _look_ for the first time in weeks. Something in his eyes must have bothered her because hers fell away to look at the file he held.

"Thanks for bringing that by," she said, reaching for it. He let her take it, his eyes glued to her averted face. Her cheek was slightly flushed and he wondered if it had anything to do with him. He had to know.

_**Forgetting all I'm lacking**_

_**Completely incomplete**_

_**I'll take your invitation**_

_**You take all of me now**_

"Temperance," he said with a crack in his voice.

He rarely called her that and it got her attention faster than anything else he could have said. Her wide eyes darted up to meet his, reminding him of a small animal caught in headlights. He didn't wait for her to speak.

"I—I need to know…I mean, I'm sure you've noticed the strain…between us since we—" he said haltingly.

"Can I get you something to drink?" she interrupted in an over-bright, too-loud voice. She turned toward the kitchen, but his hand caught her arm. He wasn't going to let her get away from him, not until they got this straight. She stopped in her tracks, but didn't turn to face him.

"Later," he said gently. "Right now we need to talk."

She half turned her head towards him, still not looking at him. "Why? We're fine…it was nothing, I didn't feel anything at all, there's no reason to even—" she said in a low, strained voice.

"Look at me," he demanded a little more roughly than he'd intended. Her head jerked toward him and her startled eyes locked with his. "I need to know for certain…if there's a chance you might be feeling what I'm feeling."

_**I'm fallin' even more in love with you**_

_**Letting go of all I've held onto**_

_**I'm standing here until you make me move**_

_**I'm hanging by a moment here with you**_

Her mouth went slack and she was speechless for an agonizingly long moment. He wished, not for the first time, he knew what was going through that logical brain of hers. Then she snapped out of it, straightening her spine and firming her lips. Her next words told him she had opted for playing dumb. To force him to _say_ it?

"Feeling? How would I know what you're feeling?" she asked with a breathless little laugh, trying again to turn away from him. He stopped her again, determined to make her see how serious he was. Catching her hand, he stepped closer to her, but not too close. He didn't want her to bolt. Swallowing hard, he took a deep breath and took the plunge.

"I think I'm in love with you," he said, holding her eyes steadily with his.

_**I'm living for the only thing I know**_

_**I'm running and not quite sure where to go**_

_**And I don't know what I'm diving into**_

_**Just hanging by a moment here with you**_

Her eyes flew wide and her jaw dropped as she took an involuntary step back. "You can't—what about—why are you doing this?" she finally asked desperately. He was going to spoil everything. How could they go back if he took them past the point of no return?

Somehow she'd forgotten to take her hand away, so he looked down at it as his thumb stroked her knuckles. His lips were firm when he looked back up to meet her gaze. "I need to know…if you don't feel the same way, it's fine…its the not knowing that's making me crazy…but just tell me, I'll find a way to deal."

_**There's nothing else to lose**_

_**There's nothing else to find**_

_**There's nothing in the world**_

_**That can change my mind**_

_**There is nothing else**_

_**There is nothing else**_

_**There is nothing else**_

She opened her mouth to deny it, but nothing came out. Her gaze skipped to lock on a point over his shoulder as she tried to gather her scattered thoughts. Could she lie to him? Should she? Would that be kinder than telling him how thoughts of him had kept her awake nights, not to mention how hard it was to concentrate on her work lately? How his proximity sent her pulse and respiration into double time?

_**I'm desperate for changing**_

_**Starving for truth**_

_**I'm closer to where I started**_

_**When chasing after you**_

Decision made, she looked into his eyes again…and she couldn't do it. The lie just wouldn't come as she sank into the warmth of his eyes. "Yes," she finally whispered, not realizing that didn't answer the question.

"Yes? Wait, what does that mean?" he asked, hardly daring to hope she meant what he thought she did.

"I—I think I might…" she began tentatively, then her courage deserted her as a smile broke over his face. As usual, when things got too emotional, she sought refuge in logic. "Booth, I'm not sure I even believe in 'love' as a concept in the first place, so how can I—" she argued in her best Bones tone.

_**I'm fallin' even more in love with you**_

_**Letting go of all I've held onto**_

_**I'm standing here until you make me move**_

_**I'm hanging by a moment here with you**_

_**I'm living for the only thing I know**_

_**I'm running and not quite sure where to go**_

_**And I don't know what I'm diving into**_

_**Just hanging by a moment here with you**_

That was enough for him. His lips cut her off. He had no patience for logic right now.

For once she stopped arguing, even though she fought it at first, keeping her lips still and standing there stiffly. Undaunted, he kissed her tenderly, gently nibbling and sipping, giving her the first kiss they should have had. His reward was her surrender. She gave a ragged sigh and her lips parted as the tension left her. Her trembling hands touched his chest in an aborted attempt to push him away.

His hands bracketed her waist but he resisted the overwhelming urge to crush her to him. Too much too soon might scare her off. His tongue gently rasped across hers and she moaned softly as her arms went up around his neck, bringing her flush against him and threatening his hard-won self control. Okay, so maybe she was already ahead of him. Then she sucked at his tongue lightly and her tongue darted in to discover his textures and tastes and his knees went weak. Damn, she was hot!

Breaking the kiss, Booth stood there breathing heavily, looking down at her, stunned. She opened her eyes, dazed and breathless. _'Wow,'_ she thought, _'if I had known it was going to be like that, I would have done that a long time ago.'_

_**Just hanging by a moment**_

_**Hanging by a moment**_

_**Hanging by a moment**_

_**Hanging by a moment here with you**_

The only coherent thought he could muster was that they needed to step back so they could catch their breath. Action followed thought and her arms fell away as he put a little distance between them. He held up a staying hand when she made a move towards him.

"Hold on," he said, struggling to get his hormones under control.

"Why?" she asked, obviously recovering more quickly than he was. "Have you changed your mind?"

"No! No, we just…we need to take it easy, give ourselves time to…adjust," he said huskily, his lips quirking at her lightning change in attitude.

'_Speak for yourself,'_ she thought wryly. A smile curved her lips. "Okay, then, what's next?" she asked, but what she really meant was 'when are we having sex?'

"Let's just take one day at a time. There's no need to rush. I wanna do this right."

Her smile turned saucy and she stepped close to him and placed her hand over his pounding heart. "There's nothing wrong with how it's going so far," she teased, tilting her face up to his.

'God, if she was this uninhibited in bed, he was in trouble,' he thought. He focused on her stunning eyes to keep his attention from wandering to her lips.

"I agree," he murmured. It wasn't working. She really had the most beautiful, expressive eyes and she was looking at him like…like she wanted to drop to the floor with him right then and there. That was _not_ gonna happen, not today, he told himself sternly. Then his traitorous eyes strayed to her lips and he was lost.

She met him halfway, lips parted softly. He moaned as their mouths met and he allowed himself to indulge for a few blissful minutes as their tongues stroked and tangled. This time she broke it off, but only so she could trail kisses across his cheek to his ear. His eyes rolled back in his head as she nipped at his earlobe and her warm breath tickled his ear. His knees dipped and he took a deep breath, straightening by sheer force of will. Grasping her upper arms, he set her away from him.

"I gotta go," he gasped, turning to grab the doorknob.

"Okay," she said in that satin-over-sand voice that haunted his dreams. He could hear the amusement in her tone and he looked at her one more time.

"Dinner tomorrow night?" he asked.

"Seven o'clock," she replied with a grin. With a jerky nod he left quickly as though he didn't trust himself not to turn back. Closing the door behind him, she leaned against the panel thoughtfully. Things just got very interesting.


End file.
